


Home series

by glacis



Category: Kyle XY
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-29
Updated: 2010-01-29
Packaged: 2017-10-06 19:44:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glacis/pseuds/glacis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Home series:  Cleanup - Tying up the loose ends from the series finale: Tom and Jessi clean up, while Kyle and Declan go on the road.  Going Home - The boys do what they must so they can go home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home series

Home series: Cleanup and Coming Home.

_Cleanup (Ending scenes for the series finale of Kyle XY)_

~~

Kyle stared into the dark eyes tearing up above him and froze.  Cassidy was his brother?  The man who threatened his family, blackmailed him, killed Jessi’s mother, was his brother?  And Grace, the woman behind Latnok, was his mother?

Was this another lie?

His mind flashed to Nicole, the expression on her face, the tears in her eyes, as she bemoaned what he had become.  _She_ was his mother.  Not Grace.  Lori and Josh were his siblings.  Not Cassidy.  His family by choice was so much more important than his surviving biological family, who saw him as nothing more than a blueprint from which to develop an army of clones.  His fingers tightened.  Cassidy choked and tried to beg, but he had no air with which to speak.

For Nicole, Kyle would not kill him.  Because she believed he was better than that.  He’d have to find another way to neutralize the threat posed by the man and his shadowy organization.  His fingers gradually unclenched from their death grip on Cassidy’s throat, and Kyle dropped the other man to the ground, glaring down at him.

“Leave me and my family alone, Cassidy.  Brother or not, I will stop you.”  He didn’t know how, but he knew he would.

From the smirk on Cassidy’s face as he staggered away from the patio, Cassidy thought he’d won.  Kyle had a gnawing fear that he just might, after all.

Slowly gathering up the shattered wood from the door frame and beginning to fix the damage he’d caused, Kyle let his hands work automatically as his mind worked furiously.  There had to be a way out…

~~

“Well, that was an absolute clusterfuck,” Foss muttered, glaring at Cassidy slouching away from the Trager house.  He sighed.  Let Kyle’s soul stay as clean as it could.  Foss had been cleaning up after Adam for years.  He would clean up after Adam’s son, too.

Three miles away, in the shadows of a tall fenced-in estate, he struck.

Cassidy must have been off his game, from having been tossed around like a rag doll by Kyle, because he barely flinched when Foss caught him.  He tried to fight back, but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated.  Foss mentally thanked Kyle for the loss of oxygen, probable concussion and multiple bruises earlier inflicted by Kyle.  It made his job easier.

A head lock, a quick twist, a sharp report of bone snapping, and Grace’s little sociopath was no more.  Slinging the body over his shoulder, Foss stuffed it in the back of his SUV and headed out to the woods.  He had a date with a power saw and a shovel.

~~

Jessi held back her growl when Amanda didn’t back down.  So Miss Goody Slut was going to go after her Kyle, huh?  A niggle of respect kept her from turning the blonde into a grease spot on the carpet.

“You deserve that much,” Amanda told her, and Jessi stared at her a moment longer before conceding, “You’re braver than I thought.”

She’d have to do something about that later.  Right now, there were more pressing concerns.  Like the fact that Nate’s heart rate was speeding up and he was about to wake up.

Jessi didn’t leave loose ends.  Not when they threatened her, or her Kyle.  Not after what they’d done to Sarah.  At the thought of her murdered mother, Jessi got it in gear.  “You have a way home?  You don’t want to be caught here.”

Amanda’s eyes bugged out, even more than usual, and she hurriedly grabbed her purse and her sweater and ran to the door.  She paused at the doorway.  “Do you need a ride home?”

“No,” Jessi told her abruptly, anxious for her to be away.  “Go home.”

For a moment, it looked like Amanda might protest.  Jessi upped her glare a few degrees.  Amanda wilted and left.  Jessi smiled after her departure, though it looked more like a snarl.

“Bitch,” Nate slurred from near the floor, as he leveraged himself up into an attack position.

That lasted for less than a second.  With her usual ruthless efficiency, Jessi caught him under the chin with a roundhouse kick that put him out.  Permanently.

Satisfied with the now-silenced heartbeat, Jessi quickly put the room to rights, erasing all signs of any struggle.  She then set a virus program to run rampant on Nate’s hard drive, destroying all the electronic files he had on Kyle and the cloning project, before gathering up all the hard copies and securing them in her bag.  Finally, when the room looked as normal as she could make it, she tossed Nate’s body into a fireman’s hold over her shoulder.  Watching from the window, she waited until the coast was completely clear.  Having disabled the cameras earlier, she made her escape with the corpse, and no one was any the wiser to her presence there that night.

~~

By the time the Tragers returned from their outing, Kyle had the door repaired.  The shattered wood was replaced by clean unpainted pine, with plywood filling the empty panes.  He’d have to see about replacing the glass later.  Nicole’s exclamation brought him from his absent musing on exactly which shade of cream he’d need to match the existing trim.

What followed was an excruciating hour of guilt, recrimination, tears (from Nicole, Lori, and Kyle) and shouting (from Stephen and Josh, although Josh did more squeaking than shouting), and eventually, hugs.  It settled into a family planning session that boiled down to Kyle determinedly arguing that he would take care of everything and everyone, Nicole advocating disengagement, Lori lobbying for Mark to infiltrate Latnok to spy for clues, Josh pushing for them all to move to Cleveland (no doubt thinking of joining Andi) and Stephen wanting to call Tom Foss for help.

Little did they know, events were already in motion to protect them.  Without realizing it, father, in this case, knew best.

~~

Instinct drove Jessi to the place where she’d made her first kill.  Not far from the clearing where the would-be rapist had died at her hands, she stopped, head cocked, listening intently.

A whirring sound, a muffled whine, a dull thunk, then another.  Breathing, a little labored, a heartbeat, racing, but not out of control.  The smell of sweat and trees overpowered by the stench of blood.  Shifting Nate’s body into a more secure hold, she crept forward.  Her eyes sharpened, until she could see in the dark as if it were daylight.  Between the trees, she saw a small fire ringed by rocks, and next to it, a man, hard at work.  He was stocky, with short dark hair, his back to her, as he worked at slicing up a corpse with the skill of a professional butcher.  Jessi’s eyes narrowed in on the dismembered limbs, and slid sideways to the head.  Blank black eyes stared back at her  
Cassidy.

Well, that took care of one of Kyle’s problems.  It also identified the killer.  Waiting until he’d finished his gruesome task, she took a breath to call out his name.

“Come on out, Jessi,” he said before she could speak.

With a silent huff, she stalked forward and dumped Nate next to Cassidy’s remains.  Foss looked over at the second corpse, his face expressionless.

“He knew?” Foss asked quietly.

“Everything,” Jessi responded curtly.  “I took care of it.”

Green eyes flashed up to meet hers.  “Clean up after yourself?”

“Sanitized.  Nothing to lead anyone back to me.”  She looked back at the corpses.  “Or you.  Or Kyle.”

“Good.  Give me a hand.”

With that, he handed her the saw.  She began to dissect Nate in much the same way Foss had dismembered Cassidy.  When they were finished, they burned the body parts until only charred pieces remained.  They burned their blood-splattered clothing as well, dressing in spares Foss pulled from his duffel bag, then buried all the evidence deep in the forest.  It took them two days.

They spoke little during that time, but they didn’t need to say much.  Plans were laid between them.  Foss supplied a target list.  Jessi came up with ideas on isolation and elimination.  They had to move fast; the confusion surrounding Cassidy’s disappearance, misdirection pointing Latnok in Nate’s direction, and the sabotage of the cloning project, would give them a few days.

They made the best of their resources, which between Jessi’s abilities and Foss’ experience were more than sufficient for the task at hand.  Within five weeks, the brain trust behind Latnok would be decimated.

Kyle would be safe, in a way Adam never had been.

~~

Not happy with the way the family meeting had gone, Kyle made up his mind to do what had to be done in order to protect his real family, the Tragers.  He left a note for Nicole and Stephen, gathered up his computer, some clothing, some money, and slipped silently out the window.  He hated having to do this, but he was the one who’d brought this danger into their lives.  With him gone, until he could find a way to root out the threat and eliminate it, hopefully Latnok would put their energy into finding him, and leave the Tragers… and Amanda… in peace.

He barely made it to the sidewalk when a black SUV rolled up to the curb.  His instinct to fight kicked in, calming an instant later as he recognized Declan’s heartbeat.  He didn’t stop to wonder when he’d memorized Declan, the way he’d memorized Amanda.

The window rolled down, and Declan looked at him, one corner of his mouth turning up in a half-smile.  “Goin’ somewhere?”

Kyle nodded, unsure how to answer.  He was leaving, but had no idea where to go.  Maybe Adam’s old estate?  Or would they look for him there?  Declan’s voice sounded in the silence.

“Need a ride?”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble,” he finally answered, his voice soft and concerned.

Declan rolled his eyes.  “Trouble’s my specialty, always has been.  Toss your stuff in the back and get in.”

Kyle hesitated for a moment, but the longer Declan stared at him, the more sense he made.  There was something about Declan that made Kyle relax, feel as if there might be a way out of this after all.  Maybe he didn’t have to do it alone.

Nodding once, making up his mind, he opened the door, slung his bag behind the seat, and settled himself.  Declan accelerated away, and Kyle looked back, once, at the only home he’d ever known.

One day, when this was finished, and they were safe, he’d come back.  They’d understand.

He hoped.

~~

Declan glanced over at Kyle.  In the dim light of the truck cabin, the other man looked lost.  Off on a mission, wanting to save everybody, nobody around to save him.  Declan stared back out through the windshield, and made the same promise he first decided on a couple years before, when Kyle came to him and trusted him with his secrets.  He’d stick by Kyle, do what he could do, him and Kyle against the world… and eventually, Kyle would catch a clue.

He was looking forward to it.

_Going Home_ (originally written for the [Small Fandom Fest](http://community.livejournal.com/smallfandomfest/) 06, Jan. 2010)

**Spring, 2009**

Foss washed off the last of the blood, sneezing once from the smoke coming from the clothes burning in the furnace.  Behind him, Jessi giggled.  He sighed.

“Not funny.”

“A little funny,” she retorted.

He glared over his shoulder at her, then raised an eyebrow as she drove a single fist directly through the nexus of connections powering the last of Latnoc’s computers.  With a satisfying spray of sparks the lights flashed and the electronics screeched one final time.

“Shit,” she muttered, licking some blood off her knuckles.

Foss looked from the destroyed console to his… friend?  Partner in crime?  Science project?  Mentee?  He sighed.  “Okay, a little funny.”

It was her turn to glare, and his to smirk.  Then her head suddenly cocked to one side, exactly like a terrier hearing a rat.  He lost his smirk.

“What?” he hissed.

“Grace,” she growled in response, and they were off on the hunt again.

The brain trust behind Latnoc that had caused so much pain and havoc, and two miracles in Kyle and Jessi, was nearly destroyed.  Only one escaped the net.

It would be a long time before they found their bloody closure.

**December, 2009**

Stephen was good with a computer, but Kyle practically was one, so there was no contest.  Nicole tried to guilt him into coming home, but that wasn’t why Kyle had contacted them; he’d missed them, horribly, but he didn’t dare return, not while the danger followed his every footstep.  The conversation via webcam was painful, but wonderful, too, and all too short.  When Lori broke and ran from the room, and Josh yelled something incomprehensible at him, and Stephen just stared at him with wise, understanding eyes, and Nicole cried, Kyle could barely choke out, “I love you.”  Then he had to leave.

Thankfully, he hadn’t turned off the connection, because there was no way in hell Declan could have figured it out.  He peered into the camera and waved awkwardly.

“Hi,” he said quietly.

“Declan?”  Nicole kind of, well, screeched.  Declan winced.

“I’m watching out for him,” he said quickly, knowing Kyle would have heard the noise and he’d soon be losing the connection.  “There’s still people out to kill him, or make him into an autobot, or something, so we’re still watching out, and he can’t come home yet, but he’s okay…”

The screen went black before he could finish the rush of words.  Declan took a deep breath and reminded himself that cussing Kyle out wouldn’t do anything but improve the other man’s vocabulary.  Then the screen flickered and Declan jumped.

Instead of Nicole’s face, it was Tom Foss, looking more relaxed than Declan had ever seen him.

“Foss?” Declan asked, just to be sure.

Foss squinted at him.  “Declan.  Kyle there?”

A rush of displaced air at his shoulder, and Kyle was, indeed, there.  Declan shivered.

“Foss?” Kyle asked in exactly the same tone.  This time Foss’ eye roll was obvious.

“Hi, Kyle!” came Jessi’s voice from the background.  Kyle shrank a little behind Declan.  Declan tried not to grin.

Jessi was scary, and could rip his lungs out his nose, maybe even through the computer, so Declan did his best to stay completely still.

“Hey, Jessi,” Kyle answered softly.

“Don’t know how long this is secure,” Foss interrupted the weirdness abruptly, and Declan gave a silent sigh of thanks.  Foss smirked at him, and Declan blushed, then Foss got back to business.  “Latnoc is shut down, and we’re in the process of tracking down the remnants and removing them.”

Declan grinned, as Kyle leaned over his shoulder and asked, “Remnants?”

Foss looked grim, and Declan got past his distraction at Kyle’s nearness to look inquisitively back at the monitor.

“Grace got away.”

Kyle was conflicted by this.  Declan wasn’t.  The bitch might have donated the genetic material to create Kyle, but she also birthed Cassidy, and she was at the heart of Latnoc, so there was no way she was on Kyle’s side.  She just wanted to use him, and that made her an enemy in Declan’s book.

“What are you planning to do?” Kyle asked, ready to jump in and fight for the right, or the moral way, or whatever the hell his convoluted brain thought up.

Kyle wasn’t good with enemies.  This is where people like Declan and Foss came in.  Simpler brains, simpler goals.

Protect Kyle (and maybe Jessi, though she did a pretty good job of doing that herself, not having any pesky morals nor any definition of right and wrong).  Do the things Kyle couldn’t or wouldn’t.  Declan met Foss’ eyes in a moment of complete understanding.

“Stay safe,” Foss said, then the screen went black again.

Kyle gave a sigh of relief, and Declan knew that meant he hadn’t understood, or allowed himself to understand, Foss’ message.  For he meant for Kyle to stay safe, not that he would… and that meant Declan would keep Kyle as far away from Grace as possible, while Foss and Jessi did their job.

“Now what?” Declan asked.

Kyle settled onto the chair next to his, and Declan dropped his hands into his lap so Kyle couldn’t see the reaction to his sprawl, and his nearness.  For a freakin’ genius, Kyle was so clueless.

“Can’t go home,” Kyle muttered, “not so long as she’s out there.  She’d use the Tragers against me.”

“Captain Obvious,” Declan teased.  Kyle grinned at him, shaking his head.  “So, what now?”

“We do what we can to help,” Kyle said, staring into the distance.  “We make sure there’s nothing left of Latnoc to hurt us, or go after my family.  We find out everything we can, then we destroy what we have to, then we go home.”

“So, you suck everything you can find into that huge brain of yours, and I remind you to eat, right?” Declan asked dryly.

Kyle snickered, then grinned at him.  “Sounds about right.”

Declan grinned back, and bumped fists with his buddy.  Maybe, one of these days, Kyle would get the hint.  Or Declan would die trying.  Probably of sexual frustration.

**Autumn, 2012**

Kyle finished checking the last of the information nodes, seeing no new updates from any of his contacts.  The newest patents, for miniaturized tracking devices used to track criminals on house arrest, kidnapped children, soldiers in hostile territory, and others in need of retrieval, were paying off well.  Each of his front corporations were making profits, and that profit was funneled into his own search and destroy operations through enough blinds to maintain a blanket of security for himself, Declan, his allies… and his family.

His heart ached.

A week ago, Lori had married Mark, and Kyle had watched through a spy cam Foss had installed in the church.  Her response to Kyle’s absence from the festivities, and his wedding gift, had been pithy.

“Keep your money.  I’d rather have you here, but if you’re never coming back, don’t bother trying to buy me off.”

This time, she’d been the one to cut the connection.

A noise in the doorway caused him to turn, not that he needed to.  He had Declan’s heartbeat memorized.

“You okay?” his best friend asked.

“I don’t think so,” Kyle answered honestly.

Declan came up to him, pulled him from the chair, and wrapped him in a hug, something he’d been doing more and more often in the last few years.  Kyle sank into his embrace, distracted from the comfort by the niggling feeling that he was missing something.  Declan smelled wonderful, he always did, but there was a sharpness there that grew a little every day, and spiked when they touched.

“You got a card, from Amanda,” Declan said in his ear, and Kyle pulled away to look askance at Declan, who sighed then handed it over.  Kyle grinned at him.

Declan’s return smile seemed a little strained.  His scent turned bitter.  Kyle cocked his head, asking a question with his eyes.  Declan shrugged, turned, and left the room.

Kyle stared after him for a long moment, before turning to Amanda’s card.  She and Andi were the only two who regularly used the mail drop he’d set up the year before.  Even when Andi and Josh broke up, Andi had remained his friend.  Sometimes, a few times, Nicole sent a letter, but they always contained a trace of salt, and he knew she cried when she wrote them.

Those letters hurt as much as they helped.

A moment later he was submerged in Amanda’s tide of gossip and determined good cheer, and for a few blessed moments, the confusion and pain of the world faded away.

**Winter, 2014**

Declan’s hugs were getting longer, and Kyle was finally beginning to understand what the scent was.

Of course, the erection Declan tried to hide at the end of every hug was a pretty big clue, too.

This Christmas call to the Tragers went a little better than the others.  Josh wasn’t there, hiding in his room or out with his new girlfriend, but Lori and Mark had been.  Mark must have been working on her, because Lori stayed somewhat mellow, and Nicole didn’t cry as much.  Stephen looked sadder than ever, but more resigned than anything else.  This time, Amanda was there, too, and it sparked a realization in Kyle.

He didn’t miss the music any more.

They talked for a little while, and when Kyle said, “I love you,” they all echoed it back, except Mark, of course.  It wasn’t enough, but it had to be.

This time, when the screen went blank, it was Kyle who cried.

Declan hugged him for a long time, and when he tried to pull away, Kyle wouldn’t let him.  Given the fact that nobody could break Kyle’s hold when Kyle didn’t want them to, Declan settled next to him and hugged him back.

“You gonna be okay?” Declan whispered into his hair.

The sharpness of his scent was muted by something, not bitter this time, but tangy, like salt, like sadness, and suddenly Kyle couldn’t bear that the one constant in his life was in pain.  He was kissing Declan before he realized he moved.

Declan tried to say something, or maybe anything, but Kyle’s mouth smothered it.  His arms tightened around Kyle, who took that for encouragement, and deepened the kiss.

A few moments later, with Kyle lost in categorizing the various tastes of Declan’s mouth, the arms were pushing him away, and it dawned on Kyle that Declan might not want him.

An instant later, he was halfway across the room from him, apologizing non-stop.  Declan, his face red, stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

“Kyle!” he barked.  Kyle quieted, staring wide-eyed at him.  “I just needed to breathe, man!  Now get over here and finish what you started!”

For a heartbeat, Kyle froze, deciphering the meaning in the sentences, then he beamed and bounced back across the room to pin Declan to the couch.  There he proceeded to kiss Declan until they both needed to breathe, which, considering Kyle’s physiology, was quite a long time.

Unfortunately, neither one of them really knew what to do beyond kissing, as Kyle’s only experience was with Amanda-the-virgin and Jessi his practically-sister.  Declan had quite a bit of experience, but all of it with girls, so while he’d been wanting Kyle literally for years, none of the porn he’d read off the internet really helped with much beyond the basics.

Lube and condoms.  In his pack.  Always at his side.

Replaced every year as he never got a chance to put them to use.

Kyle knew this, of course, but he’d never really thought about it.  Now, it was all he could think about.  Without the experience to draw upon, he did what he’d always done when in over his head… go with his instincts.

Which were telling him, unequivocally, to strip Declan down and taste every square inch of him.

Declan’s mouth was coffee and chocolate and something indefinably Declan.  His neck was tangy and salty, the skin over his collarbone delicate and thin.  His chest was soft over hard, muscles shifting, little twists of hair, skin salty still but with a little sweet, that Kyle categorized as indefinably Declan as his mouth.  The nipple was softer yet, but crinkly as it pulled up into a nub, causing Declan to make noises deep in his chest that complimented the sharp scent of his arousal perfectly.

Further exploration brought more salt, as the skin along Declan’s stomach rippled with gooseflesh, and the noises got louder.  Then Kyle felt heat and pressure alongside his jaw, and detoured to taste a new flavor, as Declan’s hips bucked.  Slick, and bitter, and salty, and even a little sweet as it went over his tongue… Kyle decided that Declan’s cock was his favorite flavor so far.  His hands followed his mouth, smoothing over Declan’s skin, holding his hips to the bed, if only to keep them from choking him.  Curiously, Kyle flattened his tongue and tried to swallow as much of Declan’s cock as he could fit down his throat.  Given his control over his bodily reactions, including his gag reflex, that was all the way down.

Strong hands combed through Kyle’s hair, as Declan’s body moved underneath his, and Kyle purred at the sensation.  The reverberation of the sound around Declan’s cock ripped a strangled scream out of Declan, and he came down Kyle’s throat before Kyle was quite ready for it.

Happily, Kyle had superhuman reaction times, so he didn’t choke, he just swallowed.  Hard.  The scream moderated into a whimper, still as strangled, and Kyle vocalized his purr into a hum.  The fingers in his hair tightened until they pulled, then went slack.

Slurping his way back up Declan’s cock, Kyle cleaned up all the spill he could find, then looked up to notice Declan was moving sluggishly on the couch.

Oh.  He’d fainted.

Concerned now, Kyle slithered up Declan’s body, enjoying the way their skin slid together, then peered into Declan’s face.  His mouth was hanging slightly open, his eyes were nearly shut, and his pupils were blown.  He looked drugged.  Kyle beamed at him again.  From everything he’d read of human physiology, that was exactly how Declan should look after an extremely satisfying orgasm.

Declan’s gaze sharpened as Kyle watched, then Declan’s tongue came out to swipe across his lips.  It made him shiver, bringing his awareness back fully to his own unattended erection, now probing against Declan’s belly.

“You missed some,” Declan growled, and Kyle shivered again.  Screaming had an interesting effect on the tonal quality, Kyle thought, only to have Declan lean forward and lick his mouth, derailing his through processes completely.

“Grhm,” he managed, and Declan grinned at him, looking surprisingly wicked.

“Let me help you with that,” he said, the growl deepening, as he reached down to encircle Kyle’s erection with his fist.

Several long kisses and some energetic hand manipulations later, Kyle knew exactly how Declan had felt.

**Summer, 2017**

Foss stared down for a moment at the blank eyes of the woman lying in the culvert, then turned away.

The worst was over.  Grace was dead.  Now they just had to shut down the last of her operations, and Kyle would finally be safe.  He glanced over at the woman beside him, dispassionately splashing one of her chemical experiments over the body.

Jessi was safe, too.

He’d known it was going to be different, bringing a partner along, especially one like Jessi, with even less moral compass than he had.

He hadn’t realized he’d find in her what he’d once thought he had in Adam.

A soul mate.

One more like him than he’d ever thought existed.  Understanding her, as he never had Adam.  Speaking in the silence with her, not needing words, in synch.

A flash of bright light made him shade his eyes, and when he looked, Grace’s body was gone.  He nodded approval.

He wondered what they would do when there were no more bodies to hide.  Jessi’s shoulder bumped his and he looked down at her slight smile.

He nodded in return, the corner of his mouth curling up.  He was sure they’d find something to do to fill their time.

**Autumn, 2017**

This time when Kyle read a card from Amanda, he was naked and curled up next to Declan in bed.  As it should be.  Declan felt a little weird for a moment, watching his partner read a letter from his old girlfriend while still covered in sweat from just having had sex, but it passed.

Amanda’d had her chance.  She blew it.  Declan had his chance.  He did everything he had to in order to take it.

Kyle’s short exclamation of surprise took Declan from his self-congratulation.  “What?” he asked, insecurity rising.

“Well, I suppose I should have seen that coming,” Kyle answered, an eyebrow arching.

“What?” Declan asked again, a little more urgently.

“Amanda ran away from home and got married,” Kyle informed him, smile quirking his lips, before he dropped the other shoe, “to God.”

“Wha?”  Declan got out, too confused to complete the word.

“She became a nun.  Makes sense, really.  Her piano and her faith were the two biggest parts of her life, and when the first didn’t pan out, it isn’t surprising she went with the second.”

“More power to her,” Declan muttered, then ducked his head and started sucking on the side of Kyle’s neck.  The letter fluttered to the floor, forgotten, as Declan settled down behind him, reaching for another condom, and sinking into the stretched, slick heat he’d been lost in an hour before.

Just before he lost the ability to string words together, Declan muttered, “love you.”  Between his choices and Amanda’s, Declan was pretty sure he’d gotten the better deal.

**Spring, 2019**

Declan ducked the first blow, then caught his attacker’s arm on the second and tossed him over his shoulder.  Behind him, he could hear Kyle taking down the rest of the pack, but Declan had his hands full with the one trying to cut his throat.  A whirl of air and motion, and the knife, and the arm behind it, dropped to the ground.

Declan was panting like a racehorse.  Kyle hadn’t broken a sweat.  Declan gave him a grumpy look.

“Are you okay?” Kyle asked, as always.

“Fine,” Declan puffed, as always when he wasn’t actually bleeding or cradling a broken bone.  “Go,” Declan commanded weakly, gesturing off in the direction the black van had taken after spewing out the damned ninjas.  Kyle gave him one last concerned look, then disappeared.

Taking a moment to get his breath back, Declan checked his wrist monitor, making sure the tracking device in Kyle was working.  It was secured to Declan and Foss only (though Jessi had no doubt hacked it to include her as well) so if Kyle got into a mess he couldn’t get out of, the cavalry had a way of finding him.

With Kyle safely out of the way, Declan did what he always did when one of the rogue posses left over from the power struggle over the remains of Latnoc caught up with them.  He did what Kyle wouldn’t do.

Picking up the knife that had nearly gutted him, he went from man to man, grabbing each head, pulling it back, and slicing through the throat of every one.  One of the first to go down started to stir, and Declan kicked him viciously in the face, hearing bones crack beneath his boot.  Then he cut that one’s throat, too.

When he was sure they were all dead, he pulled a roll of tabs out of his pack, dropping one on each body.  A single subdued flare, and the body was consumed in black chemical fire, leaving nothing but a slight smear on the pavement.  It was one of Jessi’s more useful inventions.  Declan looked around the scene, making sure there was no evidence to lead the cops their way, then shrugged his pack over his shoulder and looked down at his wrist, taking up Kyle’s trail.  It was easier for the cavalry to ride to the rescue if they were lurking nearby.  It was how they worked.

Kyle took them down.  Declan made sure they stayed that way.

**December, 2019**

Six months with no activity from any remnants of Latnoc, no signs of any repercussions from the dismantling of Grace’s little empire, and Foss twice telling them that it was safe (with one exasperated “Get past it!” from Jessi), and Kyle finally decided it was safe to go home for Christmas.

He just wasn’t quite sure home would have him.

Behind him, Declan huffed in annoyance and poked him in the back.  “Ring the doorbell already, you idiot.”

Kyle grinned slightly.  Declan did have his own way of dispelling tension.  Then he took a deep breath and reached up.

Only to have the door open before he could press the bell.  He looked up into Nicole’s shocked blue eyes.

“Kyle?” she whispered, as if he were a mirage.

“Mom?” he answered, even more quietly if possible.  He’d never needed Declan’s quiet strength at his back so much as he did in that moment, a moment that seemed to stretch into forever as they stared at one another, frozen in place.  Tears came to her eyes and she suddenly swooped down on him, gathering him in a bear hug that threatened to crush him.

After a heartbeat’s hesitation, he returned the fierce hug with one nearly as fierce, only mediated by his desire not to hurt her.  Declan’s warm hand came down on his back, steadying him.

“Welcome home, son,” Stephen’s deep voice came from the hall behind Nicole, and Kyle could barely hear her echo the words in his ear through her tears.  Then he couldn’t see much through his own, as Nicole was pulling him inside to be engulfed by a Trager group hug.  Even Josh was there, though a stinging smack to the back of his head preceded his joining in.

Kyle reached out and caught Declan’s hand, drawing him in.  Lori and Stephen pulled him the rest of the way to join the tangle of bodies.  For the first time in a decade, Kyle completely relaxed.

Finally, they were home.

FIN


End file.
